Press ReleaseThe Inkwell Awards Announces New Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge Results And Fundraiser The Inkwell Awards, a non-profit organization devoted to educating and promoting the art of inking, will be displaying the results of its third Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge in a series of fund-raising online auctions that began Saturday, February 23. Bob Almond, founder and director of The Inkwell Awards (AKA "The Inkwells") said "Joe Sinnott is our Hall of Fame namesake and recipient, Special Ambassador and a living representation of what the art form of inking is really about with a decades-spanning career of work to prove it. This inking challenge has become an essential platform for us to educate and teach, while raising much-needed funds for operations." To best illustrate what inkers bring to the form, Sinnott penciled drawings of Marvel mainstays the Thing and the Silver Surfer, which were then sent in blue-line form to various inkers around the USA and elsewhere. The ink artists were invited to "take their shot" at inking "Joltin' Joe" at their leisure, whether staying more or less faithful to the original lines or reinterpreting and creating something different but equally special. The Thing image was a "breakdown", an industry term for a looser sketch, as opposed to Joe's usual “tight pencils” of the Silver Surfer art. A breakdown requires the ink artist to add more drawing to the work, to finish the art in ink, thus adding more diversity and challenge to the event. The original art is being auctioned off at The Inkwells' eBay store and will later be collected into book form. All pieces for this challenge are personally signed by Joe Sinnott himself, making the artwork even more desirable. The list of ink artists contributing is equally impressive: Trevor Von Eeden, Joe Rubenstein, Rusty Gilligan, Keith Williams, Ken Branch, Neil Vokes, Rick Hoberg, Kent Archer, Mark McKenna, Mark Stegbauer, Johnny B. Gerardy, Ed Murr, Jim Tournas, Michael W. Kellar, Mike Pascale, Jack Purcell, John Floyd, Gerry Acerno, Charles Barnett III, Tom Schloendorn, Noah Barrett and Bob Wiacek all lent their skills and have pieces in the auctions. (Many other top-flight professionals have competed in previous challenges. The list changes each time.) "This originally began in 2011," added Almond, "based on a similar challenge given by Steve Morger at his Big Wow Comicfest in San Jose, California. First we had Joe draw Marvel's Namor and Dr. Doom. The second challenge had Thor and Captain America. Now with The Thing and Silver Surfer, the inkers had a chance to flex their skills with earthly details or aim for the stars. Some even created mock comic-book covers, splash pages with credits and color pieces. The diversity is amazing and really illustrates what good inking can add to even great pencils." Joe Sinnott commented, "I must say that after embellishing the likes of Kirby, Buscema, Romita, Steranko, Colan, Kane, Perez, Byrne, Frenz and so many other greats for the past 50 plus years, I'm on cloud 9 that my pencils are being rendered by the elite of the inkers profession.” Sinnott added, “To have [these artists] work on my pencils makes me proud to have been selected by Bob for this great assignment. I can't say it enough, they're all great and I appreciate their contributions to The Inkwell Awards." All the art, from last year up to the current pieces, can be seen at The Inkwell's ComicArtFans gallery at http://tinyurl.com/inkwellawards-CAF. The first wave of inked blue-line pieces from the latest Sinnott Challenge will be on the eBay auction block beginning Saturday, February 23 at http://tinyurl.com/baapz4d. The following week, on March 2nd, the inking advocacy group will set up auctions to benefit their annual Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund to the (Joe) Kubert School. Auctions for the second and final Inking Challenge wave will go up on March 9. The Inkwell Awards web site also offers Sinnott Inking Challenge book collections of previous art donations with regular and signed and limited editions available for monetary donations to the organization. The first edition has an Intro by Terry Austin and cover by Joe Sinnott. The new 2nd collection has an Intro by Joe's son Mark with a front cover by Josef Rubenstein and back cover by J. David Spurlock and Jose Villarrubia. While supplies last, there's also a limited "Printer Defect Collectors Edition", unsigned and signed by Joe Sinnott. Art from the third challenge will be collected later this year. Fans and pros are encouraged to check the Inkwell Awards' Web Store for prices and availability on these editions and other merchandise at http://tinyurl.com/inkwellawards-store.